Sweetmagnolia's recruitment story!
 

Hi everyone!

Since I'm all caught up in the excitement over starting college and rushing this fall, I thought I would make my very own 'recruitment story' thread. I've read up on the protocol about these kind of threads, and I'm very excited to share this all with you. I won't be talking about my school or naming the different groups at my school, just to play it safe.

A bit of background:

I'm the first person in my immediate family to even consider participating in Greek life! My parents attended a school where Greek life wasn't an option, and neither joined graduate chapters. My siblings have attended schools with large Greek life scenes, and have friends who did Greek, but did not participate. I have cousins, however, who have done Greek life in the SEC and have nothing but rave reviews. It was their enthusiasm and love of their brothers and sisters that got me thinking that rushing is something I want to do. I'm very excited and (I like to think) open-minded about rushing this fall, but also a little bit intimidated, which is why I decided to join GC. In just a couple days I already feel so much more prepared for the month ahead!

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My school currently has six sororities, which I've ~*codenamed with different US cities. Why? I don't know. I've also color-coded them to make it easy to skim/scan through future posts.

NYC
Chicago
Los Angeles
Denver
Miami
Boston

* these cities are completely arbitrary and if they hold any special significance to any sororities, it's completely coincidental.

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I will keep you all posted! August promises to be an exciting month for me (and so many others!)

xx

Two thumbs up.

Thank you!

Sounds like a great start! I'm personally rooting for Boston (that's where I live presently) ;D Looking forward to reading your story!

Boston's a great city! I applied to a lot of schools there, but I decided I didn't want to be that far away from home. Thanks for stopping by!

Good luck!!! Go Chicago!!!

Boston should be GREEN!!

Just playing. I love Boston. We lived there for almost 10 years after college. Great place to work and play.

:o
oh, a celtics fan


haha, only kidding. I really like it there! It seems like a wonderful city- so historic, and it's got a city feel without being huge and overwhelming.

Chicago :)

Gotta root for the birthplace, Sweet home Chicago!! Lots of luck to you :)

I'm a Chicago girl, too! High five!

Drink all day, play all night. Let's get it poppin'! I'm FROM Miami, Trick!

Rooting from Miami, Florida native here :D

Thank you both for stopping by- I can't say I've ever been to Miami, but it's definitely on my 'places to see in the US' list. Maybe for a Spring Break trip!

UPDATE:

It's now T minus 2 weeks until I leave for school! Cue the hyperventilation. That means 3 weeks until sorority info night and 3 weeks and some change until Recruitment formally begins! Right now, packing is the most stressful part of the process. I've decided to limit myself to only things that will fit in my trunk (clothing wise), which I think is a pretty moderate approach.

I'll keep you guys posted! I ordered my dress for Prefs last night!

A recommendation: Go to all the freshman/welcome to school stuff. I remember there was a square dance in the parking garage during Welcome Week and I thought it sounded soooooo dumb, but I went because my floor was going. So. Much. Fun.

Connecting with your dorm/floor is important too!

I think there are only 6 freshmen on my floor, so welcome week in the dorms may be pretty quiet for us! I'll be sure to bring my cowboy boots, though! They're currently in the "to take? not to take? so many hard choices" pile, haha

This is my second choice :)

CHICAGO
"...it's my kind of town!"
good luck with all your packing and the move to school!

more chicago GCers! i feel the love!

Same!

And I sincerely hope that you are within the city limits and not from a suburb and claiming Chicago. ;)

Only kidding. Sorta :D

Go NYC

Oh, that's my number one pet peeve! When people from Evanston or Lake Forest say they're from the city! Hahaha, I am within the city limits.

BOSTON

I get my bf in trouble for this ALL the time!

Gotta go with my birthplace - NYC!

Go CHICAGO!!! Yeah White Sox and the Cubbies (in that order)! :)

FYP :D

GO SOX!
I'm happy when either teams wins, just more happy when the Sox do!

Laughing-- because I am barely within the city limits. I grew up in a suburb, though and always said Chicago. I spend much more time in the burbs than the city. :)

*shakes fist* You're one of them!!! ;)

(LOL I'm also BARELY in the city...we're talking just a few blocks, HA!)

UPDATE:
So, I've hit my first roadblock and school hasn't even started yet. I started talking to my parents about Greek life, and my mom is not thrilled. She said that if I was going to pledge somewhere, she thinks it should be a NPHC or none. I said that was kind of an unfair standard to have, so we'll see how that goes over. My dad also thinks it's going to distract from my grades freshman year, and he also thinks that sororities are only 'social clubs' :( so let's see how it goes :( I'll try bringing it up again before move-in - I already signed up and paid the fee.

Sweet Magnolia- there is great information on the NPC site for parents. As a parent, grades, school and sorority are a GREAT mix! My daughter just graduated from college and in a VERY competitive field she was hired over others who had more experience. Why? they noted how easy it was to interview her ( great verbal and communication skills) and leadership skills ( she had taken on a number of leadership roles in her sorority and Panhellenic). Greek life prepares you for many areas of life and in most organizations there are scholarship programs for all members.

Greek life is a fabulous way to prepare for the work /real world. Many parents have the stereotype vision of Greek life much of which is not true. Encourage them to take a look at the NPC site or you're more than welcome to PM me.

Best wishes
Merry

Well, they are social, but all of the sororities have required minimum GPAs and study hours as well as have philanthropy events throughout the year. My experience is that the studious people stay studious and the people who party a lot, are going to party anyway. You'll find support for either in a sorority.

NPHC is a totally different experience that I can't speak to, but I think you're the best judge of that for you.

Try explaining it to them that they are values based organizations. All sororites have values that they live by. Many include scholarship. Check out the NPC site it has LOADS of info.

Fixed that for you. Every NPC organization focuses on scholarship as an important part of membership.

Are your cousins that you mentioned previously in NPHC groups or NPC/IFC?

Thanks for all your advice- I'm going to compile some information to give them. My dad's more of a 'whatever makes you happy', but my mom is the one who is actually opposed.

Also, 33girl, my cousins are in NPC and IFC GLOs.

Sweet Magnolia- find out what your mom is opposed to, just listen to her and find out what worries her. then you can find the appropriate information that might help out.

Just a suggestion.
M

I asked her that, but I couldn't really get a clear answer. The point she kept re-iterating was that if I'm going to join a sorority it should be an NPHC because I have relatives (none that I'm really close to) and she has friends who have done it. Personally, I think that she thinks if I join a sorority that's not an NPHC that it will make her look bad to said friends and relatives- I think if they're good friends of hers, than they should understand that I may have different ideas of what I want for myself and from whichever GLO I pledge and respect that.

I don't think that you should give up on something that you're really excited about just because your mom doesn't approve! Like everyone else said, just tell her the positives and hope that she will accept your decision in time. :)